The Magi
by PPP SSC
Summary: In a modern AU, Soren is the bassist and lyricist for a rock band. Pelleas is the manager. He makes some bad choices, including an EVIL agent! Rated T for language, drug refs, and some sexual themes. Keep in mind, I wrote it.


The Magi (A Modern AU)

Hello, my name is Soren. I play bass for the band called the Magi. It's kind of a garage band we started in my boyfriend's basement (his father, before his tragic passing, often yelled at us for practicing too loudly.)

The front woman is Calill. Her beautiful alto voice carries over like a charm to the records, and she sings the songs to which I write the lyrics. The music is written by lead guitarist, Tormod.

Back here is Bastian, playing his keyboard. He adds a sort of prog-like element to our band. Ilyana pounds wildly on the drums but she's a little eccentric—the other day we had to convince her that her drumsticks were neither chicken legs nor sundae cones.

Sanaki blows the trumpet in our ska-punk numbers, and I can honestly say she's pro material. She'd probably drop us like a hot potato for fame if she could. Micaiah is the backing vocalist. Her slightly higher voice provides a nice contrast for Calill.

Then there is Pelleas. He's our manager, and a very cruel one at that. He never lets Tormod and my work go unchanged—he always has to add his input.

"Next time, try a little more pop and a little less punk—you know, less Sex Pistols and more Jonas Brothers…" he said. I cringed at the remark. My lyrical inspiration had been neither. It had been _Promise Ring _for crying out loud! But Pelleas seemed to think he knew where all my ideas came from.

This one time I tried to draw inspiration from The Cure's "Lovesong" and change the lyrics to make it more elaborate and less repetitive. He thought I was ripping off _Kelly freaking Clarkson. _I think Pelleas should at least LOOK at my iPod before accusing me of ripping off these artists _I don't even listen to._

"You're a bitch, Pelleas!" I shouted. He grumbled and walked away.

"Wow, Soren, take a chill pill," Tormod said, while plugging in his amp. Maybe I was being too hard on Pelleas. "How would Ike like it if he heard you talking like that?"

"Hmm…" I contemplated, but soon went back to my position at the bass.

Ilyana crossed her sticks and said, "A one… two… one two three four!"

Calill belted out in her beautiful voice, "When I first saw you, I was so lost; just my last bridge I feared I had crossed; But through your eyes I saw escape; Just a man beyond the cape; Oh, love, how could you have found; Me lying helpless on the ground; My clothing tattered and life worn; my only expression forlorn; I will never stop loving you; I will never stop believing in you; It's more than an exemption; Darling, I think it's obsession; and never will it end; you're my only friend."

It was useful, I believed, to have a female mouthpiece. A male one would cause me to stifle my true feelings behind a wall of censorship. Unless, of course, I wanted to come out. _Which I didn't._

But I digress. Calill's voice penetrated the walls with such force, that Ike's little sister had to shout down to us, "KEEP IT DOWN! I'M HAVING A FRIEND OVER!"

Her friend was a girl named Jill, who used to always badmouth the laguz, until we elected one as president—Tibarn—and now she would always badmouth republicans instead. It was quite a shame. No one in our band except for Sanaki and me seemed to think this was a problem.

Sanaki grew up in a very devout Altinan family, and so the conservative viewpoint made sense to her. Personally, I think social conservatives are invasive jerks, but fiscal liberals are total idiots and they don't know what they were doing. I voted for Naesala. I was more than a little pissed off when he lost in the primaries to Lekain.

Micaiah believed that all conservatives were invasive jerks and total idiots, but that girl's just nuts. When Ike and I started going out, her reaction was not all too pretty. She didn't like his muscles and thought he was on steroids. Never mind the fact that SHE'S dating a pothead from a ghetto!

One day this one woman, Titania, accused ME of being a pothead because I was listening to headphones and not participating in conversations around. But it was better than what that Stefan guy did… so condescending… I'm trying to repress the memory.

Pelleas, Bastian, and Ilyana have just not seen the other perspective, and assume that the left must be correct. Tormod is still trying to get over the fact I voted "no" to the affirmative action bill.

"Hello, Soren," Jill said as she walked down, "Is that another one of your love songs?"

I laughed, "You know me a little too well, Jill. Hey, Mist, is Ike home?"

"He's in the kitchen," she said.

We stopped practicing for a moment to go get some food. I saw Ike flexing his muscles. It was so sexy, I nearly fainted. "Hey, honey," he said turning to me, "Did you guys have a good practice today?"

"Yes!" Sanaki answered, "That boyfriend of yours is really a talented lyricist."

"But Pelleas keeps trying to ruin his songs… OUR songs," Tormod complained.

Micaiah tried to defend him, "Hey, without a manager, we'd have no band."

Ike turned to her and asked, "Hey, did Sothe keep his promise to go straight?"

"You're one to talk," Calill laughed, "About going 'straight'."

Ike looked embarrassed. I glared at Calill.

"You're right, that's mean, I'm sorry!" she said, "And after all you do for me too… I know I couldn't write my own lyrics."

I heard a car horn beep in the driveway. Calill said, "Oh, there's Largo! I gotta go! See you later, guys!" Soon the taxi Micaiah and Tormod would be heading home in arrived as well, and Bastian drove home. Pelleas didn't live far so he could walk. Sanaki was picked up by her mother's friend, Tanith. A small kernel of fear grew in me, as I knew who one of the people in Ilyana's carpool was to be.


End file.
